Campus Ministries Spiritual Life Credit Policy

Northwest University Spiritual Formation

Spiritual Formation Strategy

Vision

Northwest University is a learning community committed to spiritual vitality, academic excellence, and empowered engagement with human need.

Northwest University envisions and works towards a spiritually vital community that fosters the spiritual formation of each member.

Spiritual vitality looks like a community that is:

  • Becoming more alive in Christ (John 15).
  • Joyfully gathering to worship, pray, and receive ministry and teaching (Acts 2.42-47 & Hebrews 10.25).
  • Walking in relationship with the Spirit (Galatians 5).
  • Ministering from spiritual giftings (1 Corinthians 12).
  • Operating as the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2.9).
  • Characterized by love for one another (John 13.35).
  • Bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5.22-26).
  • Engaging in Christ’s restorative mission in the world (2 Corinthians 5.17 & Matthew 28.19-20).

Christian Spiritual Formation is the redemptive, grace-empowered process where people partner with the Holy Spirit through to transform the heart (the innermost dimension of a person) to take on the definitive form or character of Jesus, the true human. This primarily happens through the spiritual disciplines and in the context of Christian community.

Mission

Northwest University works towards this vision of spiritual vitality and spiritual formation by inviting, teaching, and empowering our community to (1) Love Jesus, (2) Trust Jesus, and (3) Follow Jesus.

  • LOVE Jesus. The whole life for a Jesus-follower may be summed up as loving Jesus. Our goal, or great command, is to continually desire and pursue deeper intimacy with Jesus abiding in His presence, hearing His voice, and deepening our relationship with Him. Our love for Jesus does not start with us. Rather, Jesus is the initiator. To love Jesus also means to love what He loves – other people.
  • TRUST Jesus. Our world is filled with many narratives about the meaning of life. What Jesus says helps us see and navigate culture, even if what He says is challenging or uncomfortable. We want to be people who respond to Jesus’ invitation to trust what He says about who we are, who God is, what it means to be human, and how the world works. We trust what Jesus says, we can trust Him with our every part of our past, present, and future.
  • FOLLOW Jesus. Jesus’ invitation is for people to walk through life with Him, to become more like Him, and to join with Him in the work of restoring His world. Jesus calls us into a way of living that deeply transforms us as we take on the lifestyle, rhythms, habits, disciplines, and practices of Jesus. This way of life that Jesus invites us into does not only happen individually but also as we live in deep relationships with His people.

Process

Northwest University provides opportunities for our community to love, trust, and follow Jesus through four types programming: personal, relational, congregational, and missional.

  • Personal: Communing with Jesus individually and practicing rhythms that shape character, facilitated through spiritual disciplines, including devotions, Scriptural study, Bible reading plans, prayer, and more.
  • Relational: Learning from and encouraging fellow Jesus-followers in their walk with him; facilitated through Life Groups, community prayer, Chic Chat, Fellaship, and more.
  • Congregational: Gathering to worship together through corporate singing, confession, prayer, testimony, and communion. For ministry of the Spirit and to learn scripture, the way of Jesus, and the Christian faith. Facilitated through Chapel, The Way, and One Night gatherings.
  • Missional: Going outside the University to engage in God’s restorative mission, making disciples, building His Church, and participating in the work of the Kingdom; facilitated through local and global missions that engage in evangelism, discipleship, justice, generosity, service, and ministry.

Summary: We, the people of Northwest University, are working together to create a community of spiritual vitality that fosters the spiritual formation of each person by inviting, teaching, and empowering one another to (1) Love Jesus, (2) Trust Jesus, and (3) Follow Jesus through personal, relational, congregational, and missional engagement. 

Campus Ministries

Specifically, Campus Ministries creates space for spiritual formation through engagement in a diversity of activities, including:

  • Preaching and teaching
  • Reading, hearing, and studying Scripture
  • Corporate singing
  • Sharing of testimony and creative expression
  • Confession and repentance
  • Communion
  • Baptism
  • Prayer
  • Devotionals and journaling
  • Encouraging local church participation
  • Short-term mission trips
  • Generosity, service, ministry, evangelism, and justice opportunities
  • Life Groups
  • Mentorship
  • Pastoral Care
  • Counseling (NU Hope)

In summary, our work is to help cultivate the spiritual vitality of the community and foster the spiritual formation of each member.

Spiritual vitality and spiritual formation are not easily quantified or measured. Spiritual formation is an ongoing process that will continue for a lifetime. Our aim is for students to leave Northwest loving Jesus, trusting Jesus, and following Jesus. We seek to create a spiritually vital community and provide opportunities through programs to help students value and participate in their own spiritual formation.

Philosophy of Chapel Gatherings

A large portion of the spiritual formation that occurs at Northwest University happens in the corporate setting of chapel gatherings. While these gatherings are not the only place for spiritual formation, we see them as a primary expression of the spiritual vitality of our community and core to our DNA. These gathering are essential to affirming and shaping our identity as a Jesus-following community. In order for chapel to accomplish this purpose, the focus must be on core spiritual formation teaching pillars.

 We acknowledge that chapel is the primary gathering place for the Northwest community. While there are many announcements, topics, lectures, and ideas that could be presented in chapel, we must be selective in order to best achieve the purpose of these gatherings.

The primary purpose of chapel gatherings is to gather in worship, keep our community spiritually vibrant, and engage each member in spiritual formation. Worship includes, but also extends beyond, the hearing, reading, and teaching of Scripture and the Christian faith, corporate singing, confession, prayer, testimony, partaking in communion, generous giving, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Gathering Options:

Wednesday Chapels

Wednesday Chapels are a time of spiritual formation and encouragement. These community-focused gatherings equip students with tools to engage, embody, and practice their faith throughout the week. Each service includes corporate worship and teaching from Scripture.

Friday Chapels

Friday Chapels are a time of celebration and testimony. This is a space to reflect on what God is doing in our lives and on our campus. Each week we will have worship, a student story, and teaching from scripture. These services will end with a response time that includes prayer, worship, or time at the altar.

The Way

The Way is a weekly worship night inspired by Jesus’s words in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Every Monday night, we gather for a time of worship, prayer, and reflection to focus on The Way. These worship nights are open to the public.

Life Groups

A Life Group is a group of students who meet weekly to fellowship and build community around Jesus. The group will read the Bible, a devotional, or spiritual formation book together. Life Groups cultivate spiritually vital community and foster spiritual growth in individual members of Northwest University. These smaller group settings provide a relational space to grow beyond corporate gatherings.

Other Events

Campus Ministries will host other special events throughout the year including One Night, Chic Chat and Fellaship.

Spiritual Life Attendance Policy

AG Higher Education Requirements

Northwest University is a member of the Alliance for Assemblies of God Higher Education. As such, we are required to abide by the endorsement criteria for this alliance, including the following requirements regarding spiritual life and chapel:

[Member schools of the Alliance for AG Higher Education are required to] hold a minimum of three (3) chapel services per week with attendance of all students required…The primary focus of the three chapels required for these endorsement criteria should be on prayer, praise, and the proclamation of the Word. Business sessions for classes, student government, and other non-religious gatherings may not be counted as required chapels. Additional organized opportunities for participation in spiritual enrichment activities such as Bible studies, prayer groups, and student ministries should also be provided and encouraged…

Read the full endorsement criteria.

Spiritual Life Credit

Students are expected to engage in the spiritual life of the community. Programs and events that inform and engage spiritual life count towards what we call Spiritual Life credit. Spiritual Life credit opportunities are organized in such a way as to encourage students to own the different components of their spiritual formation. To that end, students are expected to engage in a total of 30 programs, gatherings, groups, or events for spiritual life credit throughout the semester.

In essence, part of our alignment as an Assemblies of God University requires that we have a form of credit for chapel or spiritual life. The number of required credits (30) is equal to three chapels a week, but can be attained in a variety of approved ways.

Spiritual Life credit is not given for local church participation. This is because our goal is not just spiritual formation in general but engagement and spiritual formation within the Northwest community and the collegiate experience. This is distinct from spiritual formation outside of our community, which plays a separate yet vital role in the lives our students from the spiritual formation they experience while together at NU.

Recording Spiritual Life Attendance

Attendance is recorded through scans or manual entry by appointed leadership on NU Connect, through the Campus Groups app.

  • Wednesday Chapel, Friday Chapel, and The Way attendance are taken by each student scanning in prior to the gathering and scanning out again when the gathering is dismissed through the CampusGroups app. Scanning begins 15 minutes before the gatherings and ends 15 minutes after. Students who arrive more than 15 minutes late will not be scanned.
  • Life Group attendance is recorded by Life Group leaders electronically through the CampusGroups app. Updates are visible to group members immediately in the app.
  • Missions and Extra Opportunities attendance is recorded by the event organizer and turned into the Campus Ministries’ office. Students’ names are required. This will be uploaded onto the CampusGroups app within 48 hours of reception.

If a student scans in at the beginning of chapel, leaves during the gathering, and returns at the end to scan out, in an effort to make it appear that they attended chapel, they will receive an immediate Spiritual Life credit failure for the semester.

Campus Ministries is unable to give credit without a student properly signing into CampusGroups. Should a student forget to sign in, they will be encouraged to make up that credit through other opportunities.

 Students are expected to keep track of their Spiritual Life Attendance records on the CampusGroups app, and have 48 hours to visit the Campus Ministries office located in Pecota if they think they mistakenly did not receive credit for a gathering or event that they attended.

Northwest University Requirements and Opportunities

Students must register for the CLIF 1790 Community Life Chapel course during registration, regardless of how they plan to attain their required spiritual life credits.

All full-time, traditional undergraduate students are required to attain 30 Spiritual Life credits per semester.

Spiritual Life credit opportunities are formed in such a way as to encourage students to take ownership of all four components of spiritual formation. Students have choices as to how they will reach their 30 spiritual life credits for the semester through the following opportunities:

  • Life Groups: Meet at various times during the week and cover various topics. Students can attain one Life Group credit per week. More information about Life Groups can be found on our website. UCOR small group attendance does not count as life group credit.
  • Wednesday and Friday Chapels: in Butterfield Chapel, 10:10am
  • The Way: in Butterfield Chapel, Mondays at 8:00pm
  • Local Missions: Various opportunities offered throughout the semester, as advertised by the Campus Ministries office.
  • Global Missions: Various missions trips offered by the Campus Ministries office. Students can attain five credits upon completing the missions’ course in the spring semester. Credits are applied upon the booking of each teams’ airfare/travel arrangements.
  • Chic Chat and Fellaship: Sunday evening gatherings for women and men, respectively, are held once or twice a semester, as advertised by the Campus Ministries office.
  • Extra Opportunities:  At least 5 opportunities outside the Campus Ministries office will be approved for Spiritual Life credit each semester. These events are proposed by departments, professors, or students. They may be lectures, interactive events, and/or conferences. Requests for Spiritual Life credit for an event can be submitted to Spiritual Life Attendance (slattendance@northwestu.edu) using the form on our website.

Spiritual Formation is a crucial part of the Northwest University mission and student experience. Recognizing the complexity of students’ lives and spiritual formation, the Campus Ministries Department works to facilitate a diverse assortment of spiritual formation opportunities in which to participate. As with all other required courses at Northwest, it is the student’s responsibility to do what is needed to meet the attendance requirements.

Spiritual Life Credit Adjustments

The required number of Spiritual Life credits may be appealed for individuals on a case-by-case basis and must be approval by Spiritual Life Attendance. Appeals are not available for homework, busy schedules, lunch, on- or off-campus work schedules, and/or study purposes. Northwest University does not have a process to excuse absences for personal reasons (e.g., common illnesses, work, appointments). Any missed opportunities can be made up by attending other opportunities.

The Spiritual Life Credit Adjustment Request form is available on the Campus Ministries website and must be fully completed with the required signatures and returned to slattendance@northwestu.edu for consideration. Forms are due the first Friday of each semester. Students will be notified via email of the final decision on their appeal. Students are expected to participate in spiritual life activities regularly until they are notified of the Spiritual Life Attendance decision regarding their request.

Rationale for Spiritual Life Credit Adjustments or Exemptions 

Nursing Majors

  • Junior nursing majors receive a standard adjustment to 15 required SL credits
  • Senior nursing majors receive a standard adjustment to 5 SL credits
  • Rationale: Junior and senior nursing students have clinical practicums off-campus. Senior nursing students in particular have very few days that they are on campus and can only attain few Spiritual Life credits as a result.
  • Process: The nursing department sends the list of junior and senior nursing majors to Spiritual Life Attendance each semester, to be entered. Therefore, these students do not need to apply for a SL credit adjustment.

Education Majors

  • Education majors enrolled in EDUC 4291: Educational Studies Capstone and completing their teaching practicum (usually one semester during their senior year) receive a standard adjustment to 15 SL credits.
  • Rationale: Education majors with teaching practicums are often off-campus during chapel hours for their practicum but are still on campus at other times and can participate in other opportunities.
  • Process: The education department sends the list of students who need to receive an adjustment to Spiritual Life Attendance each semester, to be entered. They also send the list of students who should receive full exemptions to both the Registrar and Spiritual Life Attendance. The Registrar exempts these students directly.

Travel for University Teams/Classes

  • Athletes and students going on a Provost-excused class trip are given an exemption credit for each M/W/F chapel that they miss due to athletics travel
  • Rationale: Students are given an exemption credit for every time they are traveling with their team/class during chapel hours, up to two exemption credits per week of travel. Students can receive up to 7 exemption credits through approved travel, equaling about two weeks of absence from chapel. This is in accordance with University policy that a student cannot miss more than two weeks of any course and pass.
  • Process: The Athletics department or director/instructor for the course sends the names of the students traveling, the dates of travel, and the Provost’s approval.

Seniors with two major-required courses scheduled during both chapel hours

  • Senior students who have two major-required courses during both chapel hours, with a verified signature from Academic Success & Advising, receive a standard adjustment to 15 SL credits
  • Rationale: If these students have no other option than to take these two courses during chapel hours, it will be particularly challenging for them to attain all 30 SL credits. It is incumbent upon the Registrar’s office and the Academic Success & Advising office to try to reduce these conflicts wherever possible.
  • Process: Students must turn in the SL Credit Adjustment Request to the Campus Ministries office or the SL Attendance email by the due date each semester. They must have a signature from Academic Success & Advising and attach a finalized course schedule.

Major-required internship during chapel hours

  • Students who have a major-required internship during chapel hours, with a verified signature from Academic Success & Advising, receive a standard adjustment to 15 SL credits
  • Rationale: If these students have no option but to conduct their internship during chapel hours, they will find it particularly challenging to attain all 30 SL credits.
  • Process: Students must turn in the SL Credit Adjustment Request to the Campus Ministries office or the SL Attendance email by the due date each semester. They must have a signature from Academic Success & Advising, attach a finalized course schedule, and outline the hours of their internship.

Off-campus student with no classes before 1:30pm on M/W/F

  • Students who live off-campus and have no classes before 1:30pm on chapel days receive a standard adjustment 15 SL credits
  • Rationale: A goal of advising across campus is to reduce unproductive gaps in student schedules. Students who live off-campus and do not have courses until later in the afternoon on chapel days are best served by having a reduced requirement, allowing them to attain their credits in other ways besides arriving to campus several hours early for chapel.
  • Process: Students must turn in the SL Credit Adjustment Request to the Campus Ministries office or the SL Attendance email by the due date each semester. They must provide their address and attach a finalized course schedule.

Special Requests

  • Childcare: If a student is a parent and must be the primary childcare provider for their child during chapel hours, they may petition the Spiritual Life Committee for a Spiritual Life credit adjustment. 
  • Medical conditions: If a student has a medical condition that prevents them from attending chapel or participating in Spiritual Life credit opportunities in other ways, they may work with the Academic Success & Advising office to go through the accommodation process. Academic Success & Advising will communicate to the Spiritual Life Committee if a Spiritual Life credit adjustment or exemption is advised.
  • Military involvement: If a student is involved in military service that requires them to be absent from school for a significant period of time, they may petition the Spiritual Life Committee for a Spiritual Life credit adjustment.
  • Other situations: Other special requests will be considered by the Spiritual Life Committee, with submission of the Spiritual Life Credit Adjustment Request and accompanying paperwork by the due date.

Spiritual Life Credit Failure

Spiritual Life credit and participation are vital to this Christian community, and is required by nature of our endorsement by the Alliance for Assemblies of God Higher Education. Therefore, students who choose not to meet the Spiritual Life credit requirement are held accountable through the following process: 

All students participating in student leadership programs and athletic teams must maintain a passing Spiritual Life credit record during the semester of participation and the semester immediately prior to participation. Failure to do so will result in reconsideration of the student’s scholarship and participation in their student leadership or athletic program.

If, at the end of the semester, a student has less than the required number of Spiritual Life credits, (s)he will be charged $25 per Spiritual Life credit not attained. This fee will be applied to the student’s account. Registration and ability to receive transcripts may be put on hold until the fee is paid. The maximum fee a student can be charged is $250 per semester. Students will be notified via email of their failure and the fee applied to their account when the semester concludes. All of the money from the fee goes to the Northwest University Benevolence Fund.

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